'UNSURVIVABLE!' New tornado warnings aim to scare

Storm clouds move across Tippecanoe County, Friday, March 23, 2012.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Starting Monday, five National Weather Service offices in Missouri and Kansas will begin a test of a new kind of severe weather warning that's based on the severity of a storm's expected impact.

Currently, warnings for storms of different scales look similar. Below are two tornado warnings that were issued last May, the first on May 22 before an EF-5 tornado killed 161 people in Joplin, Mo., and the second May 25 as weak tornadoes headed toward downtown Kansas City and caused only minor damage.

Also included is an example of the new style of warning, which would be issued in a potentially deadly tornado such as the one that hit Joplin. Starting Monday, the warnings will include enhanced language designed to inform the public about the potential impact of an oncoming storm.

New Tornado Emergency Warning:

IMPACT...COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS IS LIKELY. MANY WELL BUILT HOMES AND BUSINESSES WILL BE COMPLETELY SWEPT FROM THEIR FOUNDATIONS. DEBRIS WILL BLOCK MOST ROADWAYS. MASS DEVASTATION IS HIGHLY LIKELY MAKING THE AREA UNRECOGNIZABLE TO SURVIVORS. TORNADO MAY BE UN-SURVIVABLE IF SHELTER IS NOT SOUGHT BELOW GROUND LEVEL.

TORNADO...OBSERVED

TORNADO DAMAGE THREAT...CATASTROPHIC

HAIL...2.50IN

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'UNSURVIVABLE!' New tornado warnings aim to scare

Starting Monday, five National Weather Service offices in Missouri and Kansas will begin a test of a new kind of severe weather warning that's based on the severity of a storm's expected impact.